Must-Have Activity Books To Pack for Vacation
If there’s anything that parenting has taught me, it’s to prepare for the in-between moments when everything can quickly turn disastrous. You know the ones. They’re the times when you’re traveling from point A to point B (note: it doesn’t matter if this takes minutes or hours), when you’re waiting in a long line, or when you’re sitting in a crowded restaurant. Unfortunately, these are the times it’s easy to forget to plan for — and when all hell will inevitably break loose. There are only so many snacks you can pass to the back seat or games of “I Spy” you can play in your hotel room in the wee hours of the morning. So quiet activities that keep your kids busy and spark their imaginations become the unlikely heroes of every vacation. These travel-worthy activity books have something for everyone: coloring, stickers, games, and more. This list originally appeared on ReadBrightly.com.
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Add to BookshelfBluey: Big Backyard: A Coloring Book
by Penguin Young Readers Licenses
Fans of Bluey will love this coloring book, which features favorite characters like Bluey, Bingo, and Bob Bilby. And kids who don’t know the show will still love coloring the expressive characters in various outdoor scenes. With 64 pages of images to tackle, this coloring book will last through car, plane, and train rides — and even a few rainy days.
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$6.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Bluey’s Beach: An Activity Book
by Penguin Young Readers Licenses
And for even more fun in the sun, join Bluey and Bingo at the beach! This craft book has everything you need to fill up the summer months, from drawing the best sandcastle ever, designing your own sunnies, and so much more!
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$7.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Find My Favorite Things Dinosaurs
by DK
Who doesn’t love a classic seek-and-find book? They are perfect for endless hours of fun. With an I-spy journey perfect for inquisitive young readers, ancient dinosaurs and prehistoric plants to spot, it’s easy to get lost in the pages. There are also open-ended questions on each page to get imaginations revved up. Perfect for in the car, between activities, or waiting in a restaurant.
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$12.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Mad Libs Workbook: Summer Activities
by Catherine Nichols and Mad Libs
Keep your kids’ brains sharp with this summer-themed workbook from Mad Libs! Inside, you’ll find lessons and activities to reinforce what your child learned at school while offering them plenty of interactive fun along the way. Kids will learn phonics, grammar and spelling, comprehension, and vocabulary while completing hilarious fill-in-the-blank stories.
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$8.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Uni the Unicorn Dream & Draw Activity Book
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Calling all unicorn lovers! This coloring-and-activity book is about to become your new favorite thing — even more so if you’re a fan of the Uni the Unicorn series! This book has stickers, posters, mazes, wordplay, doodle prompts, puzzles, and more. There’s even a punch-out unicorn perfect for magical play in hotel rooms and on planes, trains, and car rides.
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$12.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Draw with Art for Kids Hub Animals
by Art for Kids Hub and Rob Jensen
This activity book is perfect for the whole family. From the team behind the YouTube sensation Art for Kids Hub, this interactive book includes unique, easy-to-follow instructions (both the kid and adult versions) to a variety of drawing projects. This book aims to foster a love of drawing, showing kids that each drawing doesn’t need to be perfect as long as you’re enjoying the process!
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$12.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Super Stickers! (Blue’s Clues & You)
by Golden Books
Super Stickers! contains more than 500 stickers — which will automatically make it a favorite for kids. But it’s so much more than that. There are also coloring pages, mazes, matching games, and drawing prompts! And kids will love seeing their favorite characters from the show — Blue, Josh, Magenta, and all of their friends. Blue’s Clues fans will be hooked the second they crack it open.
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$9.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Richard Scarry’s Big Busy Sticker & Activity Book
by Richard Scarry
Speaking of stickers, this book has more than 800 of them! It also features mazes, games, puzzles, and coloring pages — all alongside the zany adventures you’ve come to expect from Busytown. The full-color activity book draws readers into the Busytown world as they join in on their favorite characters’ escapades.
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$14.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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On-the-Go Puzzles Big Fun Activity Pad
created by Highlights
Nobody does on-the-go entertainment like Highlights, and this big activity pad is perfect for keeping kids occupied during road trips, plane flights, or downtime. The activities inside feature various modes of transportation, and the perforated pages make it easy to tear out the pages and share with siblings during long trips. It’s perfect for kids obsessed with cars, trains, planes, and boats.
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$9.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Color with Stickers: Dinosaurs
by Jonny Marx
This book takes a fun new twist on coloring and stickers. Each page features fun facts about a specific dinosaur on one side and a color-with-stickers dinosaur on the other. To “color” the dinosaurs, readers place numbered stickers on coordinating shapes to complete the picture. A sure hit for dinosaur lovers, this book combines learning and fun in a truly engaging way.
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$8.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Tangram Puzzle Fun
created by Highlights
Enjoy solving tangram puzzles with this brain-teasing book from Highlights. Kids will arrange shapes to form a larger picture, complete logic puzzles, find hidden pictures, and more! This book includes a magnetic board and pieces which makes this the perfect book to bring on long trips.
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Sticker Encyclopedia National Parks
by DK
Headed to a national park or on a cross-country road trip? This reusable sticker book is the perfect companion. It features more than 600 reusable stickers and lots of fun facts about the wildlife and geography in many of the United States’s national parks. With photos and space to create scenes with stickers, this book encourages learning through play.
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$14.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Quiz Less Traveled
by Rachel McMahon
Little kids aren’t the only ones who need to stay entertained during the summer break. Tweens and teens also enjoy screen-free activities, and this exciting book of quizzes is the perfect boredom buster. It’s filled with vacation-related quizzes that kids can complete solo or with friends or family.
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